Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Me, I'm Hungry --by Regina

How is it that, when confronted with a suffering person, my initial compassion sometimes morphs into irritation?What part does guilt play in our giving?These are the questions that weary me lately, living in a land where jobs are scarce and beggars are plentiful and (sometimes) manipulative.

A tattered schoolboy leads an older blind man around downtown Livingstone by the hand, asking for spare change.Gift is another 14-year old boy hanging out on the village’s dusty paths, hoping we can help with school fees so he can continue his education.But donations, instead of being met with gratitude, only seem to elicit more requests.When our team begins building a mud house for a poor elderly man, villagers eagerly pitch in to help us haul the wood—and then, one by one, come to us saying, “Me, I’m hungry”, as their thin arms and legs would testify.It feels like manipulation, and one young man becomes angry when we say that we are not giving money or food, that our job today is to build a house.What would YOU do?

We are instructed to give to he who asks, to be generous with the poor, especially with widows and orphans.We see the plight of the poor in this country, the many people who are painfully thin, who struggle daily to provide for their families.There are also stern words in the Bible for those who are idle, or do not care for their own relatives.“He who does not work should not eat.”The character ofZambians varies as widely as in any other country—some are industrious and motivated, some love to make excuses.What a wearisome task it is to be the judge, to continually be watching for the “deserving poor”.It is easier to just give indiscriminately, but that doesn’t always seem right either.

Author Sarah Lanier speaks of“power points” which come to us by virtue ofour culture.Count yours up—one point each for being white, male, tall, being educated, having a computer, cell phone, driver’s license, etc. etc.It felt a bit uncomfortable hearing her teach this, sitting next to some of my African friends who have very few power points.Now, being faced daily with power-less people who see only my white skin and the Landcruiser we drive (never mind that it doesn’t belong to us),these power points can start to feel like a curse.Unless we rid ourselves of our advantages (if indeed there is a way), we can never really be seen as One of Them.

Dan and I have been challenged in our thinking by visiting several organizations working with the poor:

--St. Francis care-workers, in developing income-generating programs with HIV/AIDS clients, require each would-be businessperson to invest K5000 ($1 USD) in order to join—perhaps equivalent to asking a struggling American single mom to come up with $25 or $50 (difficult but not impossible).

--Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education makes it a policy to never give anything away, always expecting a contribution of labor, materials or money from those benefitting, even the very poor.Judging from their thriving teachers’ college, experimental gardens and job-training programs, this policy has served them very well. The locals have a sense of ownership and responsibility.

--Overland Mission works at empowering locals, with a five-year exit strategy to ensure that partnership rather than take-over is the goal.

A one-time tourist encounter is far simpler than living here, establishing relationships with those who view my white skin as an easy mark (perhaps giving friendship is more difficult than giving money).Can we actually go beyond helping the poorest of the poor, to look at changing political and economic structures?How does self-respect and economic self-reliance begin to be restored in Africa?We want to explore long-term solutions, ones that don’t set us up as benevolent white Santas but instead foster partners in creativity, as well as encouraging us Westerners to give sacrificially to these who are struggling.We have so many more options to fall back on, and so very much yet to learn!

My name is Molly Sipling and I work with Moody Publishers. I could not find an e-mail address to contact you through, so I am leaving this comment to let you know that we have recently released a book that we think might interest you. The Global Orphan Crisis by Diane Elliot is a unique book that emphasizes the global crisis as well as very practical ways to get involved. As Diane points out, the need is overwhelming, the workers are few, but if we are willing we can be part of the global orphan solution and make a difference in the life of an orphaned child now and for all eternity. Together, we can be the hands and feet of Jesus to a hurting child.

We would be honored if you would be willing to post a review of The Global Orphan Crisis, feature the book in a blog post or possibly include this book in a list of resources. We would like to send you a copy of the book in either an eBook format or a physical copy. If this is of interest to you, please let me know what format you would prefer.

Please e-mail me back at molly.sipling@moody.edu if you are interested.

Welcome to Love's Door

Some of you knew us as Orphan Hope and might wonder why we changed such a perfect name!- Because as we grow we need to keep from infringing on other organizations with similar names.- Because the word "orphan" is very descriptive, but actually a bit insensitive to the children.- Because as our vision has broadened, so should our name. We are about transformational communities impacting regions - orphan homes spilling over with happy, loved children; schools full of quality Christian education; simple churches dotting the landscape; gardens and clinics, jobs training and missions training - this is our vision.

Join us in this quest of transforming our world - one child at a time.